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What's a reasonable lifetime for a hub bearing?

Alright guys, early '99 (11/98 build date) F-250, 7.3L, 4WD, RABS, Blizzard 800HD, 89,xxx miles. How long should a hub bearing in the front last? It seems like the driver's side is going out, but I can't say for sure. It doesn't hum like I'm used to, it clunks going over bumps like the bearings have play in them. When slowly turning left under slight positive throttle, low RPM, it rarely, but sometimes, sounds like a tire is hitting a mudflap, but it isn't.

What are your thoughts? Is this the bearing or something else that isn't occuring to me?

Also, does anyone have a part number for this? I tried a Timken 515022 using the build date and RABS at Auto Zone; it was the wrong one, must be for a light duty F-250 and not Super Duty. I have a Timken 515021 now that appears to be the same but with slightly different dimensions in places. It fits the knuckle fine though.

I replaced mine at 90,000 as well, I thought it was a little early but having a plow on it since new i can see the extra wear. I had to do ujoints and balljoints too. made it cheaper on labor since everything was apart anyway.

Probably not your bearing.... I thought my drivers side was going.... it turns out its the hub is shot... manually lock your hubs and I'll bet your noise goes away.

Click to expand...

I tried that - it makes fewer noises but doesn't make them go away.

The shocks appear to be good, but I might replace them anyway because of their age. I didn't think of the sway bar, I'll take a look at that and see what's happening. I'll also check out the track bar mounts. The guy that had it before me put a 2" add-a-leaf in, which included an adapter for the track bar mount on the passenger side.

I put the 515021 in, it seems to me there are fewer noises but some are still there, like the "mudflap" sound, rare but not gone. The old bearing had grease on the back of the unit in a ring, about the size of the seal on the knuckle, like the grease had been coming out of the bearing anyway. The small needle bearing that rides on the shaft was bone-dry.

I had to replace the driverside hub on my 2001 F250 at 60k miles. Easy way to check is to jack it up so that tire is off the ground, put your hands at 12 and 6 oclock on the wheel and try to shake it back and forth. If it moves at all its bad... I couldn't hear mine go bad over the powerstroke, like you can usually hear the hum or growl as it starts to go. Or Feel it, it will be noticably hotter than the other side..

Check the ball joints. Mine made a bunch of noise. Are the tires wearing excessively on the inside?

Check out www.autopartsdirecttoyou.info I found these guys doing a search for parts for my truck. Lifetime guarantee on the parts. They have a kit that will update the old style bearing to the new style bearing. Everyhwere I searched wanted $500+ for each bearing assembly. I bought the upgrade, rotors, studs, ball joints, and axle joints for around $700.

Tires have no strange wear patterns, balljoints are tight as prom night and are newer MOOG's. I have a set of sway bar link bushings on order and won't be in until Tuesday. Does the track bar have replaceable bushings? How about the mounts for the sway bar to the axle; is there any rubber in there that can be replaced?

New bushings on the sway bar mounts and links and the noises are gone. I still, however, get a few when turning at times, so I have poly bushings for the track bar on order. I'm figuring it's rattling when I go around left turns and putting the bar in tension. Either way, I'm happy with what the problem was, how easy it was to fix, and how cheap. Thanks for your suggestions, guys!